Who was `Abdu'l-Bahá, and why did He come to the West?

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Other westerners also arrived, including Mrs Stannard from England, and Dr Joseph de Bons, a Swiss dental surgeon who lived in Cairo, and his wife Edith, who had been the first to accept the Faith from May Maxwell in Paris. The brother of the Khedive of Egypt, ‘Abbás Hilmí Páshá, and the Khedive’s chamberlain, Uthmán Páshá, who was devoted to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, also paid the Master visits. The stream continued with deputies from the Turkish Parliament and some of the teachers and students from the Syrian Protestant College (later the American University of Beirut).

On 1 AugustShoghi Effendi arrived with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s sister, the Greatest Holy Leaf, Bahíyyih Khánum. Their arrival would have lifted ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s spirits immensely. Bahíyyih Khánum’s feelings were described by Shoghi Effendi:

She was astounded at the vitality of which He had, despite His unimaginable sufferings, proved Himself capable. She was lost in admiration at the magnitude of the forces which His utterances had released. She was filled with thankfulness to Bahá’u’lláh for having enabled her to witness the evidences of such brilliant victory for His Cause no less than for His Son.

The Greatest Holy Leaf spent several weeks in Egypt with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

Two days after Shoghi Effendi’s arrival, Ahmad Sohrab arrived at ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s house. As they waited for the Master, he heard Shoghi Effendi chanting ‘with pathos and sweetness’. When the prayer was finished, Ahmad heard the Master ‘teaching Shoghi Effendi how to chant and how to control his voice under various expressions’.

Shoghi Effendi told a story about one event that happened when he was with his Grandfather. Shoghi Effendi, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and a Pasha had rented a carriage to go from Alexandria to Ramleh. When they arrived, the Master asked the driver how much He owed. The driver, a very big man, demanded an exorbitant fee, which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá simply refused to pay. The burly man became extremely abusive to the point of grabbing the sash around ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s waist and yanking Him back and forth. This was very upsetting and embarrassing to both Shoghi Effendi and the Pasha, but it didn’t seem to bother the Master at all. When the bully finally released Him, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá paid Him exactly what He owed, telling the bemused driver that his actions had cost him his tip.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s health slowly improved over the summer, but reversed in the autumn, in part due to the activities of two of His recent travelling companions. Tamaddunu’l-Mulk, who had been with the Master in London and Paris, was attempting to split the Bahá’ís in Tehran while Amin Fareed was defying His orders. By the middle of the next year, Fareed was in open defiance of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and was travelling through Europe trying to raise money for himself using the name of the Faith. He arranged one such meeting in London which was prevented by the efforts of Lotfullah Hakim. Mason Remey and George Latimer also toured Europe to counter Fareed’s activities. Fareed’s appetite for money, which began in America with his efforts to pry money from Phoebe Hearst and Agnes Parsons, led to his expulsion from the Faith.

Slowly, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s health continued to improve. At about 6 o’clock one morning, He went to the house where His secretaries stayed. Even though He had already done considerable work, He arrived to find every one of them still quite asleep.

I need to go back to catch up on a few major events during 'Abdu'l-Bahá's time in Egypt. Earl Redman writes:

Lua Getsinger arrived at Port Said on 23 July and was followed shortly by her husband, Edward. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had asked Lua to go to India and said a man should go with her. She asked if her husband, Edward, could go with her. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s words to Lua on 19 August, writes Velda Metelmann, ‘can be accepted as a goal for all those who would serve their Lord’:

Thou must be firm and unshakable in thy purpose, and never, never let any outward circumstances worry thee . . . Thou must enter that country with a never-failing spirituality, a radiant faith, an eternal enthusiasm, an inextinguishable fire, a solid conviction . . . let not thou heart be troubled. If thou goest away with this unchanging condition of invariability of inner state, thou shalt see the doors of confirmation open before thy face . . .

. . . Look at Me! Thou dost not know a thousandth part of the difficulties and seemingly unsurmountable passes that rise daily before my eyes. I do not heed them; I am walking in my chosen highway; I know the destination. Hundreds of storms and tempests may rage furiously around my head; hundreds of Titanics may sink to the bottom of the sea, the mad waves may rise to the roof of heaven; all these will not change my purpose, will not disturb me in the least; I will not look either to the right or to the left. I am looking ahead, far, far. Peering through the impenetrable darkness of the night, the howling winds, the raging storms, I see the glorious Light beckoning me forward, forward.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

On 30 July two mullás came to visit. One tried to begin a hair-splitting religious controversy, something they apparently enjoyed, but ‘Abdu’l-Bahá quickly silenced His visitors by saying that they should abandon such useless theological discussions because they produce no result. They should, instead, free themselves from any prejudices and search for the Truth. The Master spoke of His talk at Oxford University and His meeting of Alexander Graham Bellin Washington. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá concluded by saying that He was only there to rest from His long journey. The greatly humbled mullás begged His forgiveness and said that they had learned a valuable lesson.

Emogene Hoagg was another American Bahá’í who wanted to see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá again. When she learned that the Master was in Egypt, she wrote for permission to visit. When the confirmation arrived, she was confined to bed with a severe illness, but left immediately. She was still weak when she arrived in Ramleh, so she asked ‘Abdu’l-Bahá for a remedy. He sent her two baked apples, with instructions to eat them at once. She ate them seeds and all then went to bed and slept soundly. The next morning she was quite well.

__________Don't you wish you had some of those apples! ah, for those days and the personal connection to the Master. And yet--He is with us, still. Even though the account above is sketchy, we can see how fondly 'Abdu'l-Baha is remembering His journey to America. "I am always a traveler to America," He said. The past, present, and future are blended in His reality. Oh, for a bit more of that perspective!

Programs for Day of the Covenant and Ascension of 'Abdu'l-Bahá

For FREE PDF files, see https://9starmedia.com/luminous-journey-movie

Who was `Abdu'l-Bahá, and why did He come to the West?

From 1911 to 1913, `Abdu'l-Bahá, son of Bahá'u'lláh, Founder of the Bahá'i Faith, also known as "The Master," travelled in Europe and America after living much of His life in exile and as a prisoner. He was elderly and in frail health, yet amazed thousands of people with his penetrating talks and views. This blog provides but a glimpse. . . .

Note: One primary source I am using is The Diary of Mirza Mahmud-i-Zarqani Chronicling `Abdu'l-Bahá's Journey to America. I refer simply to Mahmud when referencing this work and bold words and phrases that seem especially important. I often omit photo credits, accent marks, and paragraph punctuation when quoting, in the interest of posting reflections daily. Editing and refinement will be needed if this material evolves to a publishable phase. Anne Perry

About Me

has a PhD in Aesthetic Studies /Humanities and teaches at the Art Institute of Dallas. A Baha'i since 1971, she is most passionate about the subjects of Ridvan, the arts, the celebration of the Twin Anniversaries of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh, 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Sarah Farmer, and Green Acre. With her husband, Tim Perry, she created a film about Abdu'l-Baha in America, "Luminous Journey."